Every person who works has a job to be done, day in and day out (or, they should have a job to do, but we won’t get into organizational inefficiencies today). Similarly, every team has a job to be done. The difference between teams and individuals is mostly a matter of resources. A team clearly […]
I’m For It
The desire to change often comes from the desire for something to stop. We experience something that makes us realize we’re against that thing. We want to quit the job we hate because we’re against the mission and culture and management style. We want to stop eating poorly because we’re against feeling crappy and being […]
A Formula for Meaningful Work
A problem worth solving + The skills to solve it + Habits for execution + A community of support = Meaningful work Click to tweet this post.
Or, Just Make Art
Your career matters. It is perhaps the most powerful way you can make an impact in the world, aside from your family. One of the best ways to use your career for good is to find a problem worth solving and then go hard in the paint (that’s a basketball reference). But, of course, not […]
Rate-Based Goals
A great manager knows how to set a two-factor north star her team can believe in. Then she set a target, or a specific number to shoot for this year, or this quarter, or this month. An average manager would stop at that: set a target and hope the team meets the goal. When things […]
North Star
Every business, every team, every leader, and every individual contributor needs a north star. A north star guides the way. It’s a way to evaluate all of your efforts and understand whether you’re really fulfilling your mission. My north star here is daily publishing because it means I put work into the world everyday that […]
The Silent Influence of Shareholder Value
Capitalism is built on ROI, or return on investment. Corporations exist to maximize value to shareholders. Even small businesses have to produce ROI for the owners in order to make sense. This whole system started from a place where the best way to maximize shareholder value, in the very beginning, was to create value for […]
How Elon Musk is Changing the World
I believe sustainable energy production and electric vehicles are two of the most important frontiers of the next 25 years (and probably beyond). The more I learn about Elon Musk and his companies, the more I believe he might just be the man to lead us into a new historical era in the same way […]
How Coca-Cola Could Build the Future (And Why They Probably Won’t)
The Coca-Cola Company was founded on January 29th, 1892 in Atlanta, GA, six years after John Pemberton first asked some of his friends to sample his new concoction. According to Coke’s autobiography, the company sold about 9 servings per day at 5ยข per serving for the first year. Today, the company sells 1.9 billion servings […]
A Responsible Consumer’s Guide to Clothing
I’ve waxed poetic on the importance of making principled decisions in our purchases. But let’s get practical because researching brands is a huge pain in the tush. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Sustainable, responsible brands embrace at least two (and preferrably more) of the following: Oeko-Tex Certified Bluesign Certified Fair trade Certified 100% Organic […]